In that seminar, Wes Fitzwater, Esq., outlined the seemingly casual actions of others that are considered elder (financial) abuse.

Financial abuse can come in two ways:

Misappropriating an older person’s finances without having any financial relationship with them, such as the young man I spoke with had.

“Borrowing” from an older person and failing to have a repayment plan, such as is often the case with children and grandchildren.

Think it won’t happen to you? Think again.

According to Fitzwater et al, quoting the National Institute on Aging, memory loss, decline in judgment and reasoning, personality changes and issues with language are signs of cognitive impairment.

Cognitive impairment begins as early as 65 years of age for 4-17 percent of people. Those numbers jump to 38-45 percent of the population for people 85 or older.

So you have an-almost 50/50 chance of cognitive impairment as you age.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is you can protect yourself two ways.

Protection No. 1: Put a Revocable Living Trust in Place.

As explained in my last blog, a Revocable Living Trust enables you to manage your income and assets, change the trust’s terms at will, and appoint a successor trustee.

It also allows you to “test” a successor trustee to insure he or she is acting in your best interest prior to the onset of any cognitive impairment. (It also saves your heirs time and additional costs after your death.)

Should you become unable to handle your financial affairs, you can stipulate under what circumstances your successor trustee will take over the management of your assets, note Fitzwater, et al.

In real estate transactions, we also recommend that our older clients have a younger family member present, not only to provide a “second set of ears,” but also to offer emotional support.